Now that Valentine’s is over, we’re onto the next holiday…St. Patrick’s Day! These can be used to make favor tags, cupcake toppers, cake-pop or lollipop tags, gift tags, or anything else you can think of. All you need is a 2″ circle punch and you’re good to go. Download it HERE. Enjoy!

I first saw these on The Novice Chef and decided I had to make them – as seen in this post, there were a few crafts I had my eye on for Valentine’s Day, but who am I kidding… brownies always win! Plus I had all the ingredients on hand so I didn’t need to run around getting supplies. Anyway, I am by no means a professional baker, and these were easy, pretty and delicious – a great combination. We delivered some to our neighbors and have been picking at the scraps all day, supposedly waiting until after dinner to “officially” eat one :) Here’s how they look just before going into the oven:

Anxiously waiting while they bake:

And finally, the finished product:

You can find the complete recipe here on The Novice Chef. Happy Valentine’s Day!

It’s free printable Friday! These cute tags can be used for anything – cake-pops, lollipops, favor bags, cupcake toppers, gift labels, stickers… get creative! You can download them for free at the link below – all you need is a 2″ circle punch (found on Amazon) and depending on your use, plain old printer paper or if you’re making stickers, label sheets (also sold on Amazon). Has four sayings: “you’re cute”, “sweet heart”, ” i luv u” and “be mine”. DOWNLOAD HERE. Enjoy!!

This is the simplest, most delicious salad you will ever make. I swear. It doesn’t even really have a recipe it’s so simple. Here it is:

Ingredients:

1-2 ripe heirloom tomatoes (buy these at the farmers market or a reputable grocery store – if these don’t taste good, the salad won’t!)

a handful of chopped basil

mozzarella cheese (again, the good kind that comes packed in liquid, not string cheese or pre-sliced)

extra virgin olive oil

balsamic vinegar

salt/pepper to taste

Slice the tomatoes in nice, thick slices, top each with a slice of mozarella cheese, sprinkle the chopped basil on top, splash some olive oil and balsamic around the whole thing and finish off with a sprinkling of salt and pepper. Now dig in. Yummmmmmmmm…

I’m not going to pretend I’ve ever cared about football or the Super Bowl – most years I’m lucky if I even know who’s playing – but I do love getting together with friends to eat, hang out, watch some funny commercials and a half-time show and call it a day. That said, it would have been SOOOOO great to have the 49ers in it this year! I would have FINALLY watched an actual game. Oh well – there’s always next year – and now I can get back to my regular routine of worrying about the food :) I started the tradition of making chili, cornbread and all the fixings for the super bowl about 5 years ago. I know a lot of people do this and I know why – it’s easy, hearty, and delicious, and men, women and kids all love it. I used to make a few varieties (traditional, veggie, and something else) but this one was always the favorite that was gone by the end of the day and I’d have leftovers of the others for weeks, so why fight it? Now this is the only one I make. Here’s the recipe:

Slow Cooker Super Bowl Chili (this is good for a party (12+ people) and can be halved if you don’t have that many mouths to feed!):

Ingredients

2 tablespoon vegetable oil

2 pounds ground beef

4 (10.75 ounce) cans low sodium tomato soup

2 (15 ounce) cans kidney beans, drained

4 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained

1 medium onion, chopped

4 tablespoons chili powder

2 teaspoons red pepper flakes

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon ground cumin

2 pinches ground black pepper

2 pinches ground allspice

salt to taste

Directions

Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Saute the onion until they’re translucent, about 6 minutes; set aside. Place beef in the skillet, and cook until evenly brown; drain.